Mona Lisa (McBride) Mine: Field Guide to Arkansas Turquoise
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Mike Ryan II and Philip Chambless’s 2020 history records the Mona Lisa, also called the McBride Mine, on Little Porter Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from their book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Their book was published in 2020; anything described as current describes 2020.
Where it is, and who found it
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 230), Jack McBride discovered a turquoise mine in 1974 about 30 miles southeast of Mena, Arkansas, on Little Porter Mountain near the Cossatot River, in the Ouachita Mountains, which are tied to the Appalachian chain and much older than the Rockies. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 230), McBride mined about 600 pounds, and the mine was known as both the Mona Lisa and the McBride Mine. [1]
The Wrigley lease
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 230), around 1980 Jack Wrigley, a Dallas plaster contractor who had caught the gemstone bug at the Tucson Gem Show, leased the mine and hired three men who worked mostly with hand tools, because the turquoise sat in very soft kaolin clay. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 230), Wrigley opened a second mine, Mine Number 2, a quarter mile from the Mona Lisa, and estimated that he took about 12,000 pounds from the two mines, with others mining about as much after he gave up the lease. [1]
Why few buyers know it
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 230), almost all of the Arkansas turquoise was very soft and needed treatment, including stabilization and reconstitution into block. [1]
Ryan & Chambless (2020) explain why few buyers have heard of it:
“Arkansas turquoise remains an obscure footnote in the history of turquoise in America because it was never able to gain a foothold in the marketplace, probably due to the abundance of much better-known turquoise that also required treatment.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 230 [1]
See all the turquoise mines we profile, across the Southwest and beyond.
How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed work listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
Sources
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.